Abstract. This article explores how human-posthuman intimate relationships are thematized in both robotics and in science fiction film, literature and robotic art. While on the one hand many engineers and computer scientists are working hard, albeit in an altogether affirmative way, toward the technological development of anthropomorphic robots which are capable of providing social assistance, emotional support and sexual pleasure, aesthetic representations of intimacy between man and machine give us on the other hand a more nuanced and critical picture of possible future forms of desire. However, these fictional works are themselves very often complicit with the use of familiar dualistic paradigms as male-female or self-other.Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari's ideas of 'becoming-other,' scholars in critical posthumanism counterpose to this as an essentially traditional approach a nondualist reconceptualization of human beings and of the technological other, a reconceiving which is centered on 'encounters of alterity' and 'unnatural alliances.' The aim of this article is to expand on and to further develop these theories into what can be called a theory of 'new networks of desire.' According to this network idea, romantic entanglements between man and machine can better be seen as a specific form of power which does not leave us just where and who we were, but transformed. Desire is thus shown as a site for challenging our restricted self-understanding as humans and for transgressing humans' self-centeredness.
This article explores how human-posthuman intimate relationships are thematized in both robotics and in science fiction film, literature and robotic art. While on the one hand many engineers and computer scientists are working hard, albeit in an altogether affirmative way, toward the technological development of anthropomorphic robots which are capable of providing social assistance, emotional support and sexual pleasure, aesthetic representations of intimacy between man and machine give us on the other hand a more nuanced and critical picture of possible future forms of desire. However, these fictional works are themselves very often complicit with the use of familiar dualistic paradigms as male-female or self-other. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari's ideas of 'becoming-other,' scholars in critical posthumanism counterpose to this as an essentially traditional approach a nondualist reconceptualization of human beings and of the technological other, a reconceiving which is centered on 'encounters of alterity' and 'unnatural alliances.' The aim of this article is to expand on and to further develop these theories into what can be called a theory of 'new networks of desire.' According to this network idea, romantic entanglements between man and machine can better be seen as a specific form of power which does not leave us just where and who we were, but transformed. Desire is thus shown as a site for challenging our restricted self-understanding as humans and for transgressing humans' self-centeredness.
Ausgehend von dem im frühen 19. Jahrhundert virulenten Diskurs über Geist und Körper untersucht der Artikel, wie Kierkegaard sich mit der sich langsam verändernden Auffassung von Weiblichkeit auseinandersetzt. Besondere Bedeutung kommt dabei dem »Tagebuch des Verführers« zu. Statt diesen Text so zu lesen, dass es hier zu einer Abwertung von körperlich definierter Weiblichkeit kommt, wird argumentiert, dass es gerade diese Weiblichkeit ist, die dem Verführer Johannes zu einer Bedrohung wird. Je mehr Johannes versucht, die Grenze zwischen seiner geistig reflektierten Männlichkeit und der als formbar behaupteten Weiblichkeit der zu verführenden Cordelia aufrechtzuerhalten, desto mehr löst sich diese Grenze auf. Indem die geschlechtlich ambivalente Metaphorik des Tagebuchs herausgearbeitet wird, kann gezeigt werden, wie Kierkegaard Körperlichkeit als etwas verhandelt, das sich der Kontrolle des Geistes entzieht.
The aim of this article is to explore the movement of repetition as a dynamic with unpredictable effects, ravelling the alleged order of past, present, and future. To this end, the article presents Søren Kierkegaard's notion of repetition as one he counterposes to Plato's understanding of reminiscence and shows the impact of this notion on Gilles Deleuze's reflections on “difference and repetition.” In addition, Jean François Lyotard's ethical understanding of anamnesis and rewriting is examined. Finally, the article deals with Jeanette Winterson's literary vision of “twisted time” as presented in her science fiction novel The Stone Gods (2007). This novel features a human–posthuman intimate relationship in recurring periods in the history of mankind. Since acts of rewriting and rereading fixed identity positions are not only negotiated thematically in the novel but are also part of its poetic form, special attention will be paid to the novel's “queer structure.” It will be shown how this structure dismantles the idea of straight relationships and linear progress and replaces it with the vision of repetition as a movement towards an indefinite future.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.